CURLS OUT OF: San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club & Granite Curling Club

I started curling because of a dare. I work an overnight shift at NBC, and during the 2006 Olympics, curling was on live at 2 am while I was prepping the 5 am newscast. Everyone in the newsroom was watching... and pointing and laughing. Then, our station ran a story about the local club holding open houses. I thought it’d be a hoot to go with my brother, take goofy photos and do some more pointing and laughing.
The open house was mobbed – but as fate would have it, we ended up in Jerome Larson’s group. US curlers know Jerome as a USCA bigwig and the “Johnny Appleseed of curling,” who helped found virtually all of the clubs in the west. Jerome told us there were very few women curling competitively and thought I should give it a try. My brother wondered aloud, “What do you think it’d take to make it to Nationals in a year?” It was on! (And I did make it... to the Club National Championships, at least, where we even managed not to finish last!)

I think the real reason curling stuck, though, was the people. The overnight shift can leave you pretty isolated (“Sorry folks, it’s 6:30, I’ve gotta go to bed!”) and here was a group of smart, funny, generous and slightly odd people who wanted to hang out at an offensively late time of night (we rent hockey ice from 10-midnight then go to the bar) which was perfect for me since I could go directly from the rink to work. I’m so grateful for my curling family and for everyone who’s volunteered their experience and expertise to help me on my curling journey!

Who was your favourite athlete growing up?
Larry Bird – my dad used to take us to the old Boston Garden for Celtics games.

What other sports do you play?
The only thing I have time for is yoga and the gym, but I love golf, hiking, cross-country skiing, archery, field hockey and lacrosse.